themaccas

The new western Sydney suburbs aren’t that bad by the way it’s a bit painful while new trains and roads are being built but will be great to see things develop, we have shops and leisure centres, medical centres, hospitals, restaurants, cafes and cinemas etc [emoji1]

Brisbane is much cheaper but yes salaries and opportunities much less too, northern beaches are beautiful but prices for rent and house purchase are off the charts. We had to make compromises living in Sydney, we moved here 5 years ago and wanted to buy in Sutherland shire (near Cronulla) but prices went crazy so ended up buying some land and have nearly finished building an amazing home which is under an hour to the CBD on a good day and will come in (total cost) at just under $800k.

What is your budget and I can tell you if it’s possible to buy a place. We looked at so many suburbs. You won’t get a free standing house for under $1 million within an hours commute unless it’s a pretty dodgy area. You may get an apartment just under $1 million closer to the city centre though. Even in my new suburb which is an hour on an extremely good day and not in rush hour traffic, homes are going for over $1million. Sydney is one of the most expensive places to live in the world.

I’ve written a few times on here about our life in Aus but just spent a few hours reading posts through. I moved to Aus in 2012 with my family after a holiday out here to Melbourne and Sydney to visit friends, I had no thought of emigrating at that time. On my return a few things happened within a month, hubby heard he was going to be medically discharged from RAF, I had been unsuccessful in a very senior promotion at my hospital and on a day off whilst browsing the internet for jobs a banner came up advertising nursing and midwifery jobs with NSW Health. I sent off my CV and 8 months later in 2012, with PR visas we were in Sydney! We absolutely love our lives here, I keep wondering if homesickness will drive us back to the U.K. one day but so far there is no sign apart from one night 3 years ago when I woke up with crippling homesickness so bad I could have driven to the airport and flown back - no idea what brought that on and the following morning it had gone! We are now citizens and our kids are teenagers, hubby and I have each been back to the U.K. 3 times for family illnesses/events and at the end of the year we are going to take the kids back- the first time for them and I’m hoping they won’t want to stay! Our youngest is adamant he will return to live there, our oldest may do so but is happy to be in Aus at the moment and our middle one has no intention of living back in the U.K. Things I do miss are - walkers cheese and onion crisps and the clothes shops which are far better in the U.K. IMO, new car prices and range of home interior decor. I don’t miss the inflated petrol prices, constantly cloudy days, poor pay, cost of eating out, lack of independent stores however in saying that I do love the U.K. and will always feel British. Career wise my life has been amazing in Aus with opportunities I couldn’t have dreamed of, I earn more than I ever could in the U.K. and I feel valued and respected for my working experience in the U.K. NHS. Aussies have been very welcoming to me and my family in general and all my friends here are Aussies. I couldn’t go and live back in the U.K. and hubby feels exactly the same, I always thought we would move back if the kids moved back with their families but hopefully that won’t have to be considered and anyway hubby says we’re staying here! Guess we will become grey nomads when we retire. [emoji1]

Sutherlandshire is nice but getting more pricey, we arrived in 2012 and since then the house prices have doubled, even rent is expensive, you will be paying around $750 a week for anything decently liveable(3-4 bed house). We are building a new home out south west Sydney (Oran park) it’s a brand new suburb and my hubby and I commute to the city each day for work. It’s about 1.5hrs door to door for me in busy traffic, at quieter times of the day I can be there in 55 minutes.

Sutherland shire is very nice we lived there for a couple of years when we first moved here but rentals and house prices are very very high now. We have moved further out to Macarthur area - there are lots of new suburbs being built Gregory Hills, Edmonson Park, Oran Park, Harrington Park...your husband would have no problems finding work there is so much building happening. Additionally there are two big hospitals Liverpool and Campbeltown nearby. Rent and housing is far more affordable and access to the city is still achievable both my husband and I work in the city and commute.

Hi we moved to Aus 5 years ago, my father in law who we were all very close to wasn’t in the best of health, a year later he was diagnosed terminal cancer and a few months later he died, to compound that my mother became ill with leukaemia then when she was in remission she was diagnosed with end stage ovarian cancer and died a year after my father in law. Those first three years here in Aus rested is beyond anything we had experienced, they were both in their late 60’s so we didn’t expect them to go so soon. Now my sister has been diagnosed with breast cancer in the U.K. but we are making contact work with phone calls and emails. I would advise having $2k buffer in a savings account to go towards emergency flight back home. Also decide who would go back in the event of an emergency, we were pretty lean and only one of us went back at any one time. I didn’t go back for mums funeral as I was only back in Aus when she died two weeks later, she was palliative at that stage but I know when I said goodbye to her that would be it. The time spent with family alive is by far the most important. You have to live your life at the end of the day. Despite everything, we had a window of time to get out here like you do and we took it. We are so pleased we did, we have no regrets. You make things work! Sorry if that was all a bit morbid and your sister sounds like she is responding to treatment which is great. My sister is too and I find myself making extra effort with contact being so far away.

We opted to not go to Parramatta and went to Sydney CBD due to the delays, I think it is a better option, we phoned and asked to change our test centre on the phone and they did that.

Hi Samit my children had done the same so I went into my email archives and found the Singapore Airlines eticket they used when they came over and also the flight centre booking email and they accepted those with no problems.

Immigrations send a monthly list of ‘approved’ to the local council who add the names to the next ceremony list. The invite for the ceremony comes from your local council but that may not be until a few weeks before the ceremony. You could leave it a month and call your council to ask if you are on the list. Your council should list the next available ceremony dates on their website. Good luck and enjoy the ceremony!

We applied 11 September 2016 and had ceremonies in 17 July 2017. My son had his 11 May 2017 because he lived in a different suburb and council. So I would say 8-10 months depending on where you live but this was before the changes were made this year....I have heard things are taking considerably longer now.

I agree! I nearly fell over when I learnt how expensive it was. Our oldest son had orthodontist treatment too but had it all done and completed on the NHS thank goodness!

Yes the maternity care is very good here, I would say the public hospitals are much preferable than the private ones though. Your chance of a Caesarean section will triple if you have a private obstetrician.

We moved to Oz with my daughter having orthodontist treatment started in the U.K., it was definitely worth starting in the U.K., we saved a few thousand $$$$. Her treatment cost us $3600 would have been double that. Our son started orthodontist treatment last year and has near perfect teeth other than one tooth that sticks out a bit. The cost is $7600. I have got back $1600 from our health insurance but the rest we pay monthly (interest free) over two years. I miss the free NHS orthodontist!! Definitely get the treatment started there if you can!

Ah sorry you have approval letters already. This is our timeline from Sydney - September 2016 - Applied online family of 5, (4 x adults, 1xchild) September 2016 Test date emails received November 2016 Tests sat in Sydney (we had all slightly different dates) November 2016 approval letter (daughter) December 2016 approval letter (son) January 2017 approval letter (me and child) April 2017 ceremony invite (son) May 2017 ceremony for son (- living in different suburb and council) June 2017 approval letter (husband we waited 7 months for his approval) End June 2017 - i went on council website to see when next Citizenship ceremony was taking place - it was 17 July 2017. I called the council and asked if we were in the list they said they had just got the list from immigration and we were on it and were just doing our ceremony letters! These came the first week in July 2017 17 July Citizenship ceremony for the remaining 4 of us!! My advice would be to find out from your council when the next ceremony is and then a couple of weeks out phone them and ask if you are on the list. Immigration sends a list of people who have been approved to the council and the council send the letters.

No you would not have a ceremony date without an approval letter first.

Don’t worry they will tell you at your interview the council office you will have your ceremony. It will be the nearest one to where you live.

You need to be active during the day, either go to work or go out for the day, take a long walk, visit the city, plan a day out. Just ‘being awake’ and sitting around (if you are) won’t help much I’m afraid. I’ve tried and tested so many ways to beat jet lag and now have a formula that works for me! Get the right flight times and I go straight back to work :-)

Go back to work or spend the day out and about. The quicker you get into a routine the quicker your sleeping pattern will return otherwise it will take a week to correct. One of the best ways to not have jet lag I have found is to try and get flights back that arrive in the evening so when you get home it’s nighttime and you go straight to bed. Always works well for me and I’m a bit of an insomniac! If that’s not possible then I try and get back to work the next day. Forcing your body into a routine works very well too.

Read the list of items they are requesting it’s all pretty straight forward, my advice is to send them everything they need and if you’re in doubt then send it anyway.

Nothing for it but to sit on the phone, I had to call them twice last year prior to applying for citizenship and I think both times took around 2.5 hours before I spoke to someone. When I did it was actually worth it as they were able to answer the questions I had for them. Now we all have citizenship that all sounds like it was a small price to pay! Good luck with your applications it’s a good feeling when it comes through! Sent from my iPhone using PomsinOz

I opened an Aus bank account in the U.K. but when I arrived I had no proof of address other than a receipt for the holiday rental I was in. I went to the bank first to pick up my bank card and they used the address of the receipt as my residence. Thank goodness because that opened a door for everything else. I got a printed out statement from them so armed with this I was able to go straight to ahpra and with my passport, visa and job offer letter, AHPRA activated my registration. With the bank statement with my address I was also able to get medicare and driving licence, mobile phone contract and get a ‘proper’ rental contract with a real estate agent. In addition i opened my bank account in the U.K. 9 months before I got to Aus. Sent from my iPhone using PomsinOz

I feel for your so much, it’s such a difficult space for you at the moment. I think your heart is telling you to go back home to Aus, don’t feel bad about that you came to see your dad and spend some time while he knew you were with him and that’s what will matter. I did the same last year with my mum and I decided when I was back in the UK I was not going to go back for the funeral as it seemed a waste of money - she would have gone. When she died I spent the day in the local botanic gardens listening to music. I miss her hugely and when I’m back in the U.K. next year visiting family and friends I will go and visit her grave to pay my respects. It’s such a hard time for you at the moment, listen to your family and to what your heart is saying. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

We applied (Sydney, NSW) sept 16, tests - November 2016, approvals gained - December 2016 (x2), Jan (x2), May (x1). We are a family of 5 and all applied on the same day and our approvals were all vastly different dates. We had our ceremonies in July 2017 and are now all Aussie citizens! Sent from my iPhone using PomsinOz

I think tourist visas are 3 months now for oz but 6 months for visitors to U.K. which doesn’t seem very fair! Anyhow your mum could visit oz for 3 months every year on a tourist visa if she wanted. You’re right it is heartbreaking my experience has given me so much insight into how other immigrants feel when family crisis occurs back home. As a manager I don’t hesitate in providing support and emergency leave. Take care of yourself and lean on the support you have. I came back to oz having spent two weeks caring for my mum before she passed away last year and she died just two weeks later. I did not manage to get back for her funeral and took just two days off to grieve. My employer would have given me much more if I had requested but I thought I would be ok, I was...sort of but I would not recommend that to anyone. It wasn’t enough. So pleased you have your family that’s where you will find your strength. X Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk